Science in the Kitchen. eBook

Cream may be sterilized and preserved in a pure state
for some time, the same as milk.

Milk requires especial care to secure a good quality
and quantity of cream. Scrupulous cleanliness,
good ventilation, and an unvarying temperature are
absolute essentials. The common custom of setting
milk in pans is objectionable, not only because of
the dust and germs always liable to fall into the
milk, but also from the difficulty of keeping milk
thus set at the proper temperature for cream-rising.
Every family using milk in any quantity ought to have
a set of creameries of large or small capacity according
to circumstances, in which the milk supply can be
kept in a pure, wholesome condition, and so arranged
as to facilitate the full rising of the cream if desired.
A very simple and satisfactory creamery, with space
for ice around the milk, similar to that represented
in the accompanying cut, may be constructed by any
tinman.

The plan of scalding milk to facilitate the rising
of the cream is excellent, as it not only secures
a more speedy rising, but serves to destroy the germs
found in the milk, thus lessening its tendency to
sour. The best way to do this is to heat the milk
in a double boiler, or a dish set inside another containing
hot water, to a temperature of 150 deg. to 165 deg.F.
as indicated by wrinkles upon its surface. The
milk must not, however, be allowed to come to a boil.
When scalded, it should be cooled at once to a temperature
of about 60 deg. F. and kept thus during the
rising of the cream.

BUTTER.

Of all foods wholly composed of fat, good fresh butter
is the most wholesome. It should, however, be
used unmelted and taken in a finely divided state,
and only in very moderate quantities. If exposed
to great heat, as on hot buttered toast, meats, rich
pastry, etc., it is quite indigestible.
We do not recommend its use either for the table or
for cooking purposes when cream can be obtained, since
butter is rarely found in so pure a state that it
is not undergoing more or less decomposition, depending
upon its age and the amount of casein retained in
the butter through the carelessness of the manufacturer.

Casein, on exposure to air in a moist state, rapidly
changes into a ferment, which, acting upon the fatty
matter of the butter, produces rancidity, rendering
the butter more or less unwholesome. Poor, tainted,
or rancid butter should not be used as food in any
form.

Good butter is pale yellow, uniform throughout the
whole mass, and free from rancid taste or odor.
White lumps in it are due to the incorporation of
sour milk with the cream from which it was produced.
A watery, milk-like fluid exuding from the freshly
cut surface of butter, is evidence that insufficient
care was taken to wash out all the buttermilk, thus
increasing its liability to spoil.

The flavor and color of butter vary considerably,
according to the breed and food of the animal from
which the milk was obtained. An artificial color
is often given to butter by the use of a preparation
of annatto.